The gold rush in the online marketing industry in 2022 has been Tiktok ads. Research done by Reuters shows that more brands are opting to move their ad money, as TikTok advertising revenue is forecast to triple by the end of the year, amounting to $11 billion.
Marketers and brands have gone heavily into advertising on Tiktok as a way to scoop fresh traffic, especially with Influencer marketing which provides a more organic type of traffic that's highly converting.
Understanding the power of influencer marketing, Tiktok introduced the Tiktok Spark Ads as a way for brands and advertisers to add the content that has been made by their influencers into their paid advertising campaigns to drive more views and engagement during brand discovery - of course with the approval of the creator/ influencer :)
In this article, we are going deep into the topic of Tiktok Spark Ads, the difference between TikTok Spark Ads and Regular Ads, TikTok Spark Ads via influencers vs regular TikTok Ads, tips for creating effective scroll-stopping Spark Ads, and how your brand can use them to achieve top results.
What Are TikTok Spark Ads?
TikTok Spark Ads is a native ad format allowing you to boost organic influencer posts as part of your ad campaigns. It’s a hybrid of organic and paid advertising or influencer whitelisting, as you can use a creator’s already published posts as ads if you receive their authorization.
The Spark Ad is promoted through the creator’s page, labeled ‘Sponsored,’ and there’s an option to add a built-in CTA redirecting to a website. You can also use Spark Ads for posts published from your TikTok brand account.
Advantages of Spark Ads
The biggest advantage of Spark Ads is that they don’t look like ads, they are organic videos. This means that users can like, comment, share, co-create, and interact with your ad in the same way they do with organic posts. This native feel provides an unbeatable authenticity to your advertisements, giving a better experience to the viewers.
Differences Between TikTok Spark Ads and Regular ds?
At first glance, TikTok Spark Ads don’t look very different from TikTok regular ads, but there are 4 significant differences that one can notice at a second look.
- With TikTok Spark Ads, you need to organically post the content first, and then you can convert it into an ad, but with regular ads, you can create them in the TikTok ads Manager.
- Spark Ads behave like a regular TikTok video - click on the profile photo to go to the creator's profile, tap the music name to see the other videos created from the same audio, and a CTA button or caption that takes watchers to the advertiser's landing page but with TikTok regular ads, clicking the profile picture, nickname, video caption, and CTA button will direct you to the advertiser's chosen landing page in regular TikTok ads.
- Spark Ads allow you to track paid clicks, likes, shares, followers, profile visits, and music clicks but with regular ads, you can track only paid clicks.
- Spark Ads have no restrictions on video resolutions, ad ratio, file size, and bitrate but TikTok regular ads have restrictions like: 1) the file size should not exceed 500 MB, and 2) the resolution must be a minimum of 540*960px.
Overall, TikTok Spark Ads blend better with TikTok’s standard feed, making for scroll-stopping content. On the other hand, In-Feed Ads aren’t as engaging because it’s clear they’re an Ad.
Which Is Better: TikTok Spark Ads via Influencers vs Regular Tik Tok Ads
Which type of TikTok Ad is better? TikTok Spark Ads are better because they feel more authentic to the native feed and are likely to perform better than Regular TikTok Ads. The numbers back this up too. Compared to traditional ads, Spark Ads have:
- 30% higher completion rate
- 142% higher engagement rate
- 43% higher conversion rate
- 4.2% lower CPM
Spark Ads allow you to level up your online presence and build stronger customer connections without doing the heavy lifting of in-house content creation.
But creating Spark Ads isn’t as simple as switching Ad formats. TikTok Spark Ads work differently than In-Feed Ads, so the strategy needs to shift alongside the ad type. Here are a few tips for making the most out of your next TikTok Spark Ad.
5 Tips for Creating Effective Scroll-Stopping Spark Ads
Creating TikTok Spark Ads isn’t rocket science. But there are some helpful things to keep in mind to get maximum return on investment from them:
- Choose to Promote Relatable Content
Content that resonates with your audience performs the best. Authenticity follows relatability. Choose organic posts hitting your customers’ pain points and videos your audience would find entertaining, informative, or inspirational.
The best part about TikTok Spark Ads is half of your job is already done because content creators excel at building engaging TikTok content that your audience would relate to. Your task is to choose a TikTok post that’s engaging and also embraces your brand identity.
Excellent storytelling, emotional appeal, and high relatability are the three pillars exceptionally well-performing Spark Ads stand on.
- Prefer micro-influencers over Celebrities
Micro-influencers are influencers who have a following of anywhere between 5 000 to 150 000. They’re experts in their field with a small but highly engaged following. Think of them as your influencers next door, compared to celebrities who don’t feel remotely as relatable.
Despite their small size, they boast a higher engagement rate than macro-influencers and are much more cost-effective to partner with.
- Match your CTA with your goal
Your TikTok Spark Ad will contain a call-to-action button redirecting users on what to do next. Your CTA button must match your goals:
- If you aim to boost app installs, “Download” is a good choice
- If you want to increase sign-ups or free trials, write “Sign up now”
- If you’re driving traffic to a particular product page, use “Shop Now” as your CTA
The more specific your call-to-action is, the better. Vague CTAs, like “Learn more,” don’t tell watchers what exactly they should do or expect.
- Managing TikTok Spark Ads
You need to be aware of a few admin things before running a TikTok Spark Ad to avoid any mistakes in the future:
- Be careful with the audio choice. Only choose royalty-free or branded clips or audios you have the right to use to avoid any expensive copyright claims.
- Remember, if you’re boosting a duetted or stitched TikTok, you need permission from all creators featured to turn it into a Spark Ad.
- Creators generate a video code to turn their organic post into a Spark Ad for a fixed duration (seven, 30, or 60 days). Ask creators to renew the authorization period if you want to continue the Spark Ad beyond the selected time.
Case Study of Using Spark Ads
Beauty brand Isle of Paradise achieved organic viral success on TikTok by the second quarter of 2020. When their new Glow Drops product launched, they were ready to double down on the platform via a paid campaign strategy — using branded and creator-led content.
They reached out to TikTok influencers who had already published organic testimonials about Glow Drops and worked with them to repurpose their content for the campaign.
Next, they converted these creator videos to Spark Ads, and the results were astounding.
Isle of Paradise the following result:
- 500% ROI
- 45 million video views
- 68% increase in revenue
And these numbers are during Isle of Paradise’s off-season.
They certainly aren’t alone. James Allen, McDonald’s, and CheckIn — all have significantly succeeded with Spark Ads. There’s no doubt that Spark Ads can help your business grow tremendously and reach a more diverse audience.
Conclusion
TikTok Spark Ads combine the best of both worlds by combining paid advertising with natural, user-generated content. Marketing is quickly shifting from being all about sales to building a solid community and genuine customer relationships. And Spark Ads are one step forward to making that happen.
Your Spark Ads will perform better when you partner with influencers skilled at UGC.
